Tissue Roll Dispenser

ABSTRACT

A gravity-feed tissue roll dispenser for a plurality of tissue rolls includes: (a) a housing; (b) a supply turret with a plurality of spindles for mounting a plurality of tissue rolls for dispensing; (c) means for rotatably mounting the supply turret in the housing about a center of rotation such that a vertical line through the center of rotation of the turret defines a biasing sector of the dispenser and the spindles rotate between upper and lower positions, the dispenser also having a dispensing sector adjacent the biasing sector; (d) stop means adapted for securing a loaded spindle in an elevated dispensing position in the dispensing sector of the tissue dispenser, the dispensing position being elevated with respect to a lower limit of travel of the spindle upon rotation of the turret; wherein the stop means are responsive to depletion of the loaded spindle so as to allow rotation of the turret upon depletion of a roll of tissue mounted thereabout; and wherein further the turret and stop means are configured such that when a loaded spindle is secured in the elevated dispensing position: (i) at least two spindles are in the biasing sector of the dispenser and (ii) the number of spindles in the biasing sector is equal to or greater than the number of other spindles of the dispenser, such that when the dispenser is fully loaded with a plurality of like tissue rolls, depletion of a roll in the elevated dispensing position distributes the weight of tissue in the dispenser so as to bias the turret in a dispensing direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/270,005,filed Nov. 9, 2005, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/627,071, filed Nov. 12, 2004, and ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/690,273, filed Jun. 14, 2005. The priorities ofthe foregoing applications are hereby claimed and the disclosuresthereof are incorporated into this application by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to dispensers for rolls oftissue. A preferred embodiment is a four-roll, gravity-feed rolldispenser for tissue rolls.

BACKGROUND

Dispensers for tissue rolls are well known in the art. There is shown,for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,349 to Moody et al. a tissuedispenser for two rolls of coreless tissue. The dispenser includes asupport sled for mounting the rolls. The support sled is provided withlatch dog assemblies which are biased towards a release position suchthat a second roll will become available when a first coreless tissueroll is depleted. The dispenser of the '349 patent accommodates tworolls; in many cases more capacity is desired.

Other dispensers have been proposed for three or more rolls. There isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,129 to Whittington et al. a dispenserfor sequentially dispensing rolls of tissue. The dispenser includes asupport having a housing with an opening. A roll holder is rotatablymounted on the support and has three spaced roll support shafts orspindles which are inserted into rolls. The roll holder and rolls aremaintained in an unbalanced condition to sequentially present the rollsat a dispensing position under the influence of gravity.

Another three roll dispenser is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,182 toConner et al. The dispenser of the '812 patent is similar in mostrespects to that of the '129 patent mentioned above; however, thedispenser has a limiting gate position to impede rotation of a rollmounting turret when a roll is full.

One drawback of three roll gravity-feed dispensers is that in order tomaintain an unbalanced condition favoring advancement in a dispensingdirection, only two of three available mounting posts are filled withmaterial. Otherwise, the load (apart from the roll being dispensed) isgenerally symmetrically distributed about a vertical bisecting theturret of the dispenser and the rolls thus have insufficient gravitybias to be reliably advanced. See the '812 patent at FIGS. 2-4 and notethe disclosure at Col. 3, lines 21 and following. Additional dispensersare seen in the following: British Patent No. 2,245,882 to Crisp et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,267 to Stanland et al. Further features may be foundin the following: U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,800 to Tritch; U.S. Pat. No.4,108,513 to Lander; U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,426 to Siciliano and U.S. Pat.No. 2,930,664 to Liebisch.

High capacity dispensers are especially desirable for commercialestablishments. Three roll dispensers inherently require incompleteloading for reliable operation by way of gravity. One existing solutionis the use of very high capacity, large diameter (up to 1 ft or so indiameter) single rolls; however these rolls are difficult to handle andload into the dispenser. Moreover, large roll dispensers are eitherwithout reserve rolls or are difficult to operate and re-load; acondition leading to the unavailability of tissue when needed.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

There is provided in accordance with the invention a high capacitydispenser for tissue rolls having a distribution of reserve rolls whichfavor advancement of a dispensing turret in a dispensing direction whenthe dispenser is fully loaded. A gravity-feed tissue roll dispenser fora plurality of tissue rolls includes: (a) a housing; (b) a supply turretwith a plurality of spindles for mounting a plurality of tissue rollsfor dispensing; (c) means for rotatably mounting the supply turret inthe housing about a center of rotation such that a vertical line throughthe center of rotation of the turret defines a biasing sector of thedispenser and the spindles rotate between upper and lower positions, thedispenser also having a dispensing sector adjacent the biasing sector;(d) stop means adapted for securing a loaded spindle in an elevateddispensing position in the dispensing sector of the tissue dispenser,the dispensing position being elevated with respect to a lower limit oftravel of the spindle upon rotation of the turret; wherein the stopmeans are responsive to depletion of the loaded spindle so as to allowrotation of the turret upon depletion of a roll of tissue mountedthereabout; and wherein further the turret and stop means are configuredsuch that when a loaded spindle is secured in the elevated dispensingposition: (i) at least two spindles are in the biasing sector of thedispenser and (ii) the number of spindles in the biasing sector is equalto or greater than the number of other spindles in the dispensingsector, such that when the dispenser is fully loaded with a plurality oflike tissue rolls, depletion of a roll in the elevated dispensingposition distributes the weight of tissue in the dispenser so as to biasthe turret in a dispensing direction. In a preferred embodiment, thestop means include a plurality of release arms which are mounted on theturret and biased toward a release position, the release arms beingfurther adapted to be compressed to a locking position when the spindleis loaded with a coreless or other suitable tissue roll. The releasearms are pivotally mounted and adapted to engage the end of a tissueroll loaded onto an associated spindle whereby the arms are compressedto their locking positions; to this end the release arms have terminalportions gapped with an associated spindle a predetermined distance suchthat the release arm will assume its release position upon depletion ofa tissue roll loaded onto its associated spindle. Preferably, theterminal portions of the release arms are generally arcuate such that agap between a release arm and its associated spindle is of generallyuniform width in the locking position of the release arm. The releasearms have latch projections mounted thereon configured to cooperate witha locking shoulder on a back plate upon which the supply turret ismounted in order to secure the turret in the dispensing position.

In a preferred embodiment, the dispenser further comprises means formanually advancing the turret in a dispensing direction, such as whereinthe turret has gear teeth about its periphery and the means for manuallyadvancing the turret include a geared advancing wheel which engages thegear teeth of the turret. Preferably, the advancing wheel is mounted ona one-way bearing and has a molded-in direction indicator. So also, thedispenser typically includes means for preventing rotation of the turretin a direction opposite the dispensing direction.

Generally speaking, the housing of the dispenser includes a back plate,a cover hinged thereto and optionally locking means for securing thecover to the back plate in a locking position. The locking means mayinclude a latch member mounted in a cavity in the back plate and thelatch member may be an injection-molded part which includes integrallyformed biasing projections bearing upon surfaces of the cavity to urgethe latch member to a locking position.

A line from the spindle secured in the dispensing position to an opposedspindle in the biasing sector of the dispenser typically makes an angle,α, of from about 10° to about 30° with a vertical passing through thecenter of rotation of the turret.

In one preferred embodiment, the means for rotatably mounting the supplyturret in the housing comprises a mandrel with a stepped profile and thesupply turret comprises a mounting wheel and a retaining plate each ofwhich have molded-in features for securing them to each other. Themounting wheel and retaining plate may be rotationally lockable to eachother along a relative locking direction co-directional with adispensing direction in which the turret rotates to supply additionalproduct. The mounting plate has a plurality of release arms providedwith biasing means and the retaining plate is adapted to secure thebiasing means of the release arms to the mounting plate of the turret,thereby eliminating the need for additional hardware.

A preferred construction is a gravity-feed tissue roll dispenser fortissue rolls comprising: (a) a housing; (b) a supply turret with fourequally spaced of spindles for mounting tissue rolls for dispensing; (c)a back plate for rotatably mounting the supply turret in the housingabout a center of rotation such that a vertical line through the centerof rotation of the turret divides the dispenser into a biasing sectorand a dispensing sector, the spindles being mounted to rotate betweenupper and lower positions; and (d) stop means adapted for securing aloaded spindle in an elevated dispensing position in the dispensingsector of the tissue dispenser, the dispensing position being elevatedwith respect to a lower limit of travel of the spindle upon rotation ofthe turret; wherein the stop means are responsive to depletion of theloaded spindle so as to allow rotation of the turret upon depletion of aroll of tissue mounted thereabout; the dispensing position of a loadedspindle being further characterized in that two spindles are in thebiasing sector of the dispenser and two spindles are in the dispensingsector of the dispenser and a line between the loaded spindle in thedispensing position and an opposed spindle in the biasing sector definesan angle, α, of from about 10° to about 30° with respect to a verticalline through the center of rotation of the turret; and wherein furtherthe turret and stop means are configured such that when the dispenser isfully loaded with a plurality of like tissue rolls, depletion of a rollin the elevated dispensing position distributes the weight of tissue inthe dispenser so as to bias the turret in a dispensing direction.Typically, the angle, α, is from about 15° to about 25°; preferably, theangle, α, is about 18°.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a gravity-feedtissue roll dispenser for a plurality of tissue rolls comprising: (a) ahousing with a dispensing opening for allowing access to tissuecontained in the dispenser; (b) a supply turret with a plurality ofspindles for mounting a plurality of tissue rolls for dispensing; (c)means for rotatably mounting the supply turret in the housing; (d) stopmeans adapted for securing a loaded spindle in a dispensing position,the stop means being responsive to depletion of the loaded spindle so asto allow rotation of the turret upon depletion of a roll of tissuemounted thereabout; and (e) a plurality of sequestering members mountedon the turret and associated with the spindles, each sequestering memberbeing adapted to cooperate with the housing in order to hinder access toa tissue roll on its associated spindle until the spindle is in thedispensing position. Preferably, the means for rotatably mounting thesupply turret in the housing are configured to mount the turret about acenter of rotation such that a vertical line through the center ofrotation of the turret defines a biasing sector of the dispenser and thespindles rotate between upper and lower positions, the dispenser alsohaving a dispensing sector adjacent the biasing sector, and wherein thedispensing position is elevated with respect to a lower limit of travelof the spindle upon rotation of the turret. The turret and stop meansare configured such that when a loaded spindle is secured in theelevated dispensing position: (i) at least two spindles are in thebiasing sector of the dispenser and (ii) the number of spindles in thebiasing sector is equal to or greater than the number of other spindlesin the dispensing sector, such that when the dispenser is fully loadedwith a plurality of like tissue rolls, depletion of a roll in theelevated dispensing position distributes the weight of tissue in thedispenser so as to bias the turret in a dispensing direction. Inpreferred constructions, the sequestering members have plates are curvedplates and may be discrete components or the sequestering plates areinjection-molded as part of a unitary structure.

Another aspect of the invention involves (a) dispensing a plurality oftissue rolls in a dispenser of the invention and (b) withdrawing thetissue from the dispenser.

Still other features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the discussion which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention is described in detail below with reference to thedrawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the inventivedispenser provided with 4 rolls of coreless tissue;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1 with the coveropen and without tissue rolls;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the dispenser of FIG. 1 showing a dispenserlocking mechanism;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail in perspective showing a spindle andrelease arm of the mounting turret of the dispenser of FIG. 1 alsoshowing a manual advance wheel;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged rear perspective view of the turret of thedispenser showing a release arm and associated spring of the releasearm;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the back mounting plate of thedispenser;

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of a release arm;

FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view of a release arm;

FIG. 9 is a front view schematic diagram illustrating operation of thedispenser of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a side view schematic diagram illustrating operation of thedispenser of FIG. 1, along line 10-10 of FIG. 9, wherein roll 74 hasbeen depleted;

FIG. 11 is a view in perspective of a second embodiment of the inventivedispenser;

FIG. 12 is a view in perspective showing the turret and back plateassemblies of the dispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a back view in perspective of the assembly of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a top view in perspective of the turret assembly of thedispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a bottom view in perspective of the turret assembly of thedispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 16 is a top view in perspective of the mounting wheel of the turretassembly of the dispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is a bottom perspective view of a retaining plate of the turretassembly of the dispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a preferred manual advancing wheel ofthe dispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 19 is a top view in perspective showing a preferred mounting hub ofthe back plate of the dispenser of FIG. 11;

FIG. 20 is a view in perspective illustrating construction of a unitary,injection-molded sequestering plate arrangement which may be used inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a top view in perspective of a preferred construction of theturret assembly of the inventive dispenser. The construction shown inFIG. 21 may be used in connection with the other components of thedispenser shown in FIGS. 1 through 9 in connection with a firstembodiment of the inventive dispenser or the construction shown in FIG.21 may be used in connection with the other components shown in FIGS. 10through 18 in connection with a second embodiment of the inventivedispenser; and

FIG. 22 is a schematic front view of a dispenser of the invention with afront cover having relatively transparent areas through which tissueroll inventory may be observed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the figuresfor purposes of illustration only. Modifications within the spirit andscope of the present invention, set forth in the appended claims, willbe readily apparent to those of skill in the art.

It will be appreciated from the following discussion that a preferredembodiment is a dispenser for four rolls of tissue arranged at equallyspaced intervals on a circular turret. When at rest, there is an 18°offset from vertical of the center line of the bottom most and top mostrolls of tissue. This offset from vertical places more weight on theright side (biasing sector) of the dispenser as viewed from the frontwhich provides for gravity to automatically advance the rolls in aclockwise manner when the roll in use is consumed. That is to say, whena roll is fully consumed a release arm raises from its compressedposition to travel over a stop shoulder on the back plate.

The rolls are trapped or secured by the inside of the cover keeping therelease arms in a compressed state which does not allow the turret orrotary plate to move past a target roll for dispensing. As the roll isdepleted its outside diameter is reduced until such time as the outsidediameter is less than double the radius at the end of the release arm(in the case where the release arm has a semi-circular end). Once thisoutside diameter is reached there is nothing to hold the release arm ina compressed position and it is raised by its associated spring—nolonger engaging the stop on the back plate. When this occurs gravitycauses the rotating plate to rotate clockwise due to the redistributedweight of tissue until the next roll is in position with its release arm(in a locking position) engaged with the stop on the back plate. Detailsand other features of the invention will be appreciated by way ofreference of FIGS. 1 through 10.

There is illustrated in the various figures a dispenser 10 including ahousing 12 with a cover 14. Dispenser 10 has a back plate 16 with amandrel 18 for mounting a turret 20.

Turret 20 has a cylindrical support 19 for mounting the turret onmandrel 18 of back plate 16 as well as four spindles, spindle 22,spindle 24, spindle 26, and spindle 28. Each spindle has a release armsuch as release arms 30, 32, 34, and 36 associated therewith. Operationof the release arms will be further appreciated from the discussionbelow. Other features of the dispenser generally include an advancingwheel 38 for manually advancing turret 20 along a dispensing direction40. To this end, advancing wheel 38 has gear teeth 42 which engageanother set of gear teeth 44 on turret 20. Advancing wheel 38 is mountedon a one way bearing indicated at 46 which prevents the turret fromrotating opposite dispensing direction 40.

When necessary, advancing wheel 38 is rotated in direction 48 i.e., acounter-clockwise direction in order to advance turret 20 in thedispensing direction. Otherwise, the one-way bearing indicated at 46will prevent unwanted rotation of supply turret 20 as noted above by wayof inter-engagement of the gear teeth.

Other features of the dispenser include a latching member 50 having twoarcuate spring portions 52 and 54. Latching member 50 is adapted to bemounted in a cavity of back plate 16 as shown having a plurality ofsurfaces adapted to engage springs 52 and 54 so that the latching memberis urged to a locking position by action of springs 52, 54 on surfacessuch as surfaces 58 and 60. Latching member 50 is preferably of unitaryconstruction; such as being injection molded and may be made from anengineering resin such as polyacetal, nylon, polyester or the like.

Preferably, the release arms are pivotably mounted in turret 20 by wayof a hinge 62 (FIG. 5) and each include a spring 64 to bias the releasearms to an unlocked position such as is shown on the lower portion ofFIG. 10 at 66. The release arms generally have the features shown inFIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 8. It can be seen from the various figures that eachrelease arm has an arcuate terminal portion 68 as well as a latchprojection 70 adapted to cooperate with a locking shoulder 72 of backplate 16 (FIG. 6). The release arms have an arcuate end 68 as notedabove such that it is gapped with its associated spindle as is seen inFIGS. 4 and 5. It will be appreciated from the various diagrams, thatwhen the release arms are compressed to their locking positions, i.e.,fully towards the back plate, the arcuate end of the release arms definea gap of generally uniform width between the release arm and thespindle. Operation of the dispenser is perhaps best appreciated byreference to FIGS. 1, 9 and 10.

The dispenser when fully loaded, is adapted to hold four rolls onspindles 22, 24, 26 and 28, for example, roll 74, roll 76, roll 78, androll 80 as is shown in the various Figures. When a roll is in thedispensing position, indicated at 90 in FIGS. 1 and 9, two of the rollsof a fully loaded dispenser rolls 78 and 80 are mounted on spindles in abiasing sector 92 of the dispenser while rolls 74 and 76 are mounted ina dispensing sector 94 of the dispenser. The various sectors are definedby a vertical line 96 passing through the centre of mandrel 18 that isto say, passing through the center of rotation of turret 20. In theembodiment shown, the sector of the dispenser to the right of line 96maybe thought of as the biasing sector and the area to the left of line96 may be thought of as the dispensing sector of the dispenser. See FIG.9.

Note further that a line 97 between spindles 22 and 26 defines an angleα with line 96 where α may be anywhere from about 10 to about 30° inpreferred embodiments.

When roll 74 is depleted the distribution of tissue weight of a fullyloaded dispenser shifts to the biasing sector 92.

Further, when roll 74 is depleted (FIG. 10), release arm 30 springs fromits locking position, i.e., compressed position, as in FIG. 1 and asshown at 98 in the upper part of FIG. 10 to a release or unlockedposition shown at 66 in FIG. 10. As shown at 66 in FIG. 10, latchprojection 70 no longer engages locking shoulder 72 of back plate 16when the release arm is in its unlocked or release position. The turret20 is now free to rotate in dispensing direction 40 under the influenceof gravity due to the weight distribution of tissue in the dispenser.Thus, turret 20 advances automatically under the influence of gravityuntil roll 80 is locked into position by virtue of its release arminteracting with locking shoulder 72.

Note in FIG. 9 that dispensing position 90 is elevated with respect tothe lower limit of travel of spindle 22, i.e., that is, when spindle 22is coincident with vertical line 96. Thus when roll 74 is depleted thebiasing force that is the weight of tissue in the biasing sector has amagnified effect on inducing rotation of turret 20 in the desireddirection.

The process continues until all the rolls of the dispenser are consumedor the dispenser is reloaded prior to consumption of all of the rolls.In this regard it is noted that the one-way bearing on advancing wheel38 will prevent rotation of turret 20 opposite to the dispensingdirection.

Various means may be used for holding rolls such as roll 74, 76, 78 and80 on turret 20. For example, one may have a retaining member 104affixed to cover 14 such that the rolls are pressed down against therelease arms when the cover is closed as is shown in FIG. 1. Othermodifications of the dispenser are likewise possible. It should beappreciated that a salient feature of the invention is a plurality ofrolls mounted in the biasing sector for distributing the weight oftissue for automatic advancement along the dispensing direction.

Further improvements of the invention are illustrated in FIGS. 11through 20.

In FIGS. 11-19 there is shown another dispenser 110 including a housing112 with a cover 114. Dispenser 110 has a back plate 116 with a mandrel118 for mounting a turret 120.

Turret 120 has a cylindrical support 119 for mounting the turret onmandrel 118 of back plate 116 as well as four sleeved spindles, spindle122, spindle 124, spindle 126, and spindle 128. Each sleeved spindle hasa release arm such as release arms 130, 132, 134, and 136 associatedtherewith. Operation of the release arms will be appreciated from thediscussion above with respect to corresponding parts of dispenser 10.While “pin” spindles of the type shown and described in connection withFIGS. 2, 4 are adequate for tissue rolls which have a core ofpaperboard, the sleeved spindles of the embodiment of FIGS. 11-19 aremuch preferred for coreless rolls because the sleeve will rotateindependently of its central support and will provide for smoothdispensing even if the coreless roll tissue tightens around the sleeve.

Other features of the dispenser generally include an advancing wheel 138for manually advancing turret 120 along a dispensing direction 140. Tothis end, advancing wheel 138 has gear teeth 142 which engage anotherset of gear teeth 144 on turret 120. Advancing wheel 138 is mounted on aone way bearing indicated at 146 which prevents the turret from rotatingopposite dispensing direction 140.

When necessary, advancing wheel 138 is rotated in direction 148 i.e., acounter-clockwise direction in order to advance turret 120 in thedispensing direction. Otherwise, the one-way bearing indicated at 146will prevent unwanted rotation of supply turret 120 as noted above byway of inter-engagement of the gear teeth.

Other features of the dispenser include a latching member 150 having twoarcuate spring portions 152 and 154. Latching member 50 is adapted to bemounted in a cavity of back plate 116 as shown having a plurality ofsurfaces adapted to engage springs 152 and 154 so that the latchingmember is urged to a locking position by action of springs 152, 154 onsurfaces such as surfaces 158 and 160. Latching member 150 is preferablyof unitary construction; such as being injection molded and may be madefrom an engineering resin such as polyacetal, nylon, polyester or thelike.

Preferably, the release arms are pivotably mounted in turret 120 by wayof a hinge and each include a spring to bias the release arms to anunlocked position such as is shown on the lower portion of FIG. 10 at66. The release arms generally have the features shown and describedabove in connection with FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 8.

Dispenser 110 operates generally as described above in connection withdispenser 10 of FIGS. 1-10. Various improvements include a plurality ofsequestering members 180, 182, 184, 186 associated respectively withspindles 122, 124, 126, 128. The members include curved plates and areconfigured and disposed on turret 120 to cooperate with housing 112 inorder to hinder access to rolls of tissue disposed on the spindles untilthe spindles are in a dispensing position indicated at 190. That is tosay, the members 180-186 block access through opening 195 in housing 112to tissue rolls when they are not in dispensing position 190, such aswhen they are in biasing sector 192.

Preferably, the sequestering plates have curved plates and may bediscrete components as shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 15. Alternatively, theplates may be put on an injection-molded unitary structure as is shownin FIG. 20.

Further improvements are seen in FIG. 13 which is a perspective view ofthe back of back plate 116. Plate 116 includes a cavity 117 providedwith shoulders 119 a, 119 b, 123, 125 to limit travel of latching member150 such that it does not interfere with wheel 138, especially in thehome position when the latch member is urged outwardly by springs 152,154.

Plate 116 also preferably includes a plurality of curved ribs such asribs 131, 133 (FIG. 19) for spring release arms 130, 132 and from plate116 so that they will not bend against plate. As is also shown in FIG.19, mandrel 118 also includes a stepped profile with segments 118 a, ‘18b, 118 c, 118 d to reduce friction or binding between mandrel 118 andcylindrical support 119.

A still further feature is shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 18 wherein the faceof wheel 138 is provided with a pair of directional arrows 139, 141 toshow the direction of rotation of the wheel to manually advance turret120 when necessary in order to dispense more product. Preferably, thearrows project upwardly away from the adjacent surface 0.010 inches orso.

Most preferably, the inventive dispenser is made from injection-moldedparts which reduce the need for additional hardware and reduce or avoidthe need for molding or drilling holes, especially in areas which mighthave relatively high molded-in stress such as at the base of cylindricalsupport 119.

Referring to FIGS. 14-17, it is seen that turret 120 includes a mountingwheel 121 with a plurality of molded-in directional shelves such asshelves 121 a, 121 b and 121 c which project along dispensing direction140. The shelves are provided with cavities such as cavities 121 d, 121e. A retaining plate 123 includes a plurality of L-shaped, molded-inbrackets 123 a, 123 b and so forth provided with projections 123 c, 123d and so forth. The brackets, shelves, projections and cavitiescooperate to secure retaining plate 123 to mounting plate 120 in orderto secure springs 164 a, 164 b, 164 c, 164 d of release arms 130, 132,134 and 136 to the turret. As will be appreciated from theillustrations, wheel 121 and plate 123 are thus lockable to each otherby relative rotation in dispensing direction 140. In order to unlock theplates, their relative motion must be opposite the direction of rotationin normal operation such that in normal use, separation does not occur.That is to say, mounting plate 121 needs to be rotated counterclockwise(191, FIG. 14; 148, FIG. 11) with respect to plate 123 in order toseparate them.

FIG. 20 shows a unitary member 281 defining sequestering plates 280,282, 284 and 286 having generally the configuration and blockingfunctions of plates 180-186 of FIGS. 12, 14 and 15. Member 281 ismounted on a turret 220 which is then placed in a dispenser such asdispenser 10 or 110 as described above.

FIG. 21 shows a preferred construction of a turret 320 for use inconnection with the inventive dispenser.

Turret 320 has a cylindrical support 319 for mounting the turret on themandrel of the back plate. There is also provided four sleeved spindles,spindle 322, spindle 324, spindle 326, and spindle 328. Each sleevespindle has a release arm such as release arms 330, 332, 334, and 336associated therewith. Operation of the release arms is appreciated fromthe discussion above with respect to the corresponding parts ofdispenser 10 and the corresponding parts of dispenser 110.

Turret 320 includes a plurality of sequestering members 380, 382, 384,and 386 associated respectively with spindles 322, 324, 326 and 328.Each of the sequestering members includes first and second panels as isshown in FIG. 21. That is to say, sequestering member 380 has curvedpanels 380 a and 380 b, while sequestering member 382 has panels 382 aand 382 b. Sequestering member 384 has panel 384 a and 384 b while panel386 has panel 386 a and 386 b. The curved panels are joined where thesequestering members are mounted on turret 320 and flare outwardly fromthat point away from each other as shown in FIG. 21. The sequesteringmembers are thus configured and disposed in order to hinder access tothe rolls of tissue disposed on the spindles until the spindles are inthe dispensing position. That is to say, sequestering members 380, 382,384, and 386 are adapted to hinder access to a roll not in thedispensing position as tissue is dispensed from the inventive dispenser.

FIG. 22 shows yet another embodiment 410 of the inventive dispenser,wherein the housing is at least partially transparent so that tissueinventory may be observed. Dispenser 410 includes a turret 420 as notedabove in connection with other embodiments wherein the turret has fourspindles 422, 424, 426 and 428. Mounted on the turret is a plurality oftissue rolls 474, 476, 478, and 480. Note that roll 474 is in thedispensing position. It will further be appreciated from FIG. 22 thatdispenser 410 has an outer housing front cover 414 made of plastic.Preferably cover 414 is integrally formed by way of injection molding ofa thermoplastic resin composition including an acrylic resin(poly(methyl methacrylate) for example) or polycarbonate resin, or thelike such that cover 414 has a unitary structure.

Cover 414 has a front 442 provided with polished areas 444 and texturedareas 446. Preferably cover 414 is made from a transparent or lightlypigmented resin composition such that polished or smooth areas 444 arerelatively transparent and textured areas 446 are translucent orrelatively opaque depending on desired effect. In the preferredembodiment shown the polished areas define an arcuate region 450extending substantially around the entire periphery of turret 420.Preferably the polished transparent area is adapted to allow viewing ofthe tissue area at each of spindles 422, 424, 426 and 428. This may beaccomplished by having an arcuate structure extending over about 300degrees or more of a circular turret, for example as is shown in FIG.22. Smooth or polished areas can be provided by polishing the mold,while textured areas can be produced by texturing the surface of themold by way of sandblasting, vapor honing or any other suitabletechnique.

For purposes of illustration, the smooth (polished), relativelytransparent areas 444 of cover 414 are shown in oblique lines, while thetextured areas 446 are stippled.

There is optionally provided a logo area 452 conveniently achieved byway of molding in the logo with a textured surface while molding therest of the logo area with a polished mold surface. In order to producea 3-dimensional appearance for the logo, it has been found suitable touse an embossment depth or molded in depth of about half that of thecover, i.e. for a 120 mil thick cover, it has been found that a suitablemolded in depth for the logo is about 60 mils, that is to say the coveris about half thickness in the textured area of the logo.

Thus, there is provided means for simultaneously viewing roll inventoryon at least two spindles of the dispenser through the front cover of thedispenser; optionally wherein relatively transparent area of the frontcover includes a plurality of discrete relatively transparent areas. Therelatively transparent area of the front cover is adapted and positionedto facilitate simultaneous viewing of roll inventory on all of thespindles of the dispenser disposed in a position other than thedispensing position. It is not necessary to view the inventory of thespindle in the dispensing position through the front cover since thespindle is exposed in any event; however in a preferred construction thespindle inventory of the spindle in the dispensing position is alsosimultaneously viewable with the inventory of the other spindles.Preferably, a relatively transparent area of the front cover isring-shaped, wherein the ring-shaped area is sized and positioned tofacilitate simultaneous viewing of roll inventory on at least twospindles of the dispenser.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferreddispenser, modifications within the spirit and scope of the inventionwill be readily apparent to those with skill in the art. In view of theforegoing discussion, relevant knowledge in the art and referencesdiscussed above in connection with the background of the invention,further description is deemed unnecessary.

1. A gravity-feed tissue roll dispenser for a plurality of tissue rollscomprising: (a) a housing; (b) a supply turret with a plurality ofspindles for mounting a plurality of tissue rolls for dispensing; (c)means for rotatably mounting the supply turret in the housing about acenter of rotation such that a vertical line through the center ofrotation of the turret defines a biasing sector of the dispenser and thespindles rotate between upper and lower positions, the dispenser alsohaving a dispensing sector adjacent the biasing sector; (d) stop meansadapted for securing a loaded spindle in an elevated dispensing positionin the dispensing sector of the tissue dispenser, the dispensingposition being elevated with respect to a lower limit of travel of thespindle upon rotation of the turret; wherein the stop means areresponsive to depletion of the loaded spindle so as to allow rotation ofthe turret upon depletion of a roll of tissue mounted thereabout; andwherein further the turret and stop means are configured such that whena loaded spindle is secured in the elevated dispensing position: (i) atleast two spindles are in the biasing sector of the dispenser and (ii)the number of spindles in the biasing sector is equal to or greater thanthe number of other spindles in the dispensing sector, such that whenthe dispenser is fully loaded with a plurality of like tissue rolls,depletion of a roll in the elevated dispensing position distributes theweight of tissue in the dispenser so as to bias the turret in adispensing direction.
 2. The tissue roll dispenser according to claim 1,wherein the stop means include a plurality of release arms.
 3. Thetissue roll dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the release arms aremounted on the turret and biased toward a release position, the releasearms being further adapted to be compressed to a locking position whenthe spindles are loaded with tissue rolls.
 4. The tissue roll dispenseraccording to claim 3, wherein the release arms are pivotally mounted andadapted to engage the end of tissue rolls loaded onto associatedspindles whereby the arms are compressed to their locking positions. 5.The tissue roll dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the release armshave terminal portions gapped with an associated spindle a predetermineddistance such that the release arm will assume its release position upondepletion of a tissue roll loaded onto its associated spindle.
 6. Thetissue roll dispenser according to claim 5, wherein the terminalportions of the release arms are generally arcuate such that a gapbetween the release arm and its associated spindle generally of uniformwidth in the locking position of the release arm.
 7. The tissue rolldispenser according to claim 6, wherein the release arms have latchprojections mounted thereon configured to cooperate with a lockingshoulder on a back plate upon which the supply turret is mounted inorder to secure the turret in the dispensing position.
 8. The tissueroll dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the dispenser furthercomprises means for manually advancing the turret in a dispensingdirection.
 9. The tissue roll dispenser according to claim 8, whereinthe turret has gear teeth about its periphery and the means for manuallyadvancing the turret include a geared advancing wheel which engages thegear teeth of the turret.
 10. The tissue roll dispenser according toclaim 9, wherein the advancing wheel is mounted on a one-way bearing.11. The tissue roll dispenser according to claim 8, wherein the meansfor manually advancing the turret in a dispensing direction includes anadvancing wheel mounted on a one-way bearing.
 12. The tissue rolldispenser according to claim 8, wherein the means for manually advancingthe turret in a dispensing direction comprises an advancing wheel with amolded-in direction indicator.
 13. The tissue roll dispenser accordingto claim 1, further including means for preventing rotation of theturret in a direction opposite the dispensing direction.
 14. The tissueroll dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the housing includes a backplate, a cover hinged thereto and locking means for securing the coverto the back plate in a locking position.
 15. The tissue roll dispenseraccording to claim 14, wherein the locking means includes a latch membermounted in a cavity in the back plate.
 16. The tissue roll dispenseraccording to claim 15, wherein the latch member is an injection-moldedpart which includes integrally formed biasing projections bearing uponsurfaces of the cavity to urge the latch member to a locking position.17. The tissue roll dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a line fromthe spindle secured in the dispensing position to an opposed spindle inthe biasing sector of the dispenser makes an angle, α, of from about 10°to about 30° with a vertical passing through the center of rotation ofthe turret.
 18. The tissue roll dispenser according to claim 1, whereinthe means for rotatably mounting the supply turret in the housingcomprises a mandrel with a stepped profile.
 19. The tissue rolldispenser according to claim 1, wherein the supply turret comprises amounting wheel and a retaining plate each of which have molded-infeatures for securing them to each other.
 20. The tissue roll dispenseraccording to claim 14, wherein the mounting wheel and retaining plateare rotationally lockable to each other along a locking directionco-directional with a dispensing direction in which the turret rotatesto supply additional product.
 21. The tissue roll dispenser according toclaim 18, wherein the mounting plate has a plurality of release armsprovided with biasing means and the retaining plate is adapted to securethe biasing means of the release arms to the mounting plate of theturret, thereby eliminating the need for additional hardware.
 22. Agravity-feed tissue roll dispenser for tissue rolls comprising: (a) ahousing; (b) a supply turret with four equally spaced of spindles formounting tissue rolls for dispensing; (c) a back plate for rotatablymounting the supply turret in the housing about a center of rotationsuch that a vertical line through the center of rotation of the turretdivides the dispenser into a biasing sector and a dispensing sector, thespindles being mounted to rotate between upper and lower positions; and(d) stop means adapted for securing a loaded spindle in an elevateddispensing position in the dispensing sector of the tissue dispenser,the dispensing position being elevated with respect to a lower limit oftravel of the spindle upon rotation of the turret; wherein the stopmeans are responsive to depletion of the loaded spindle in thedispensing position so as to allow rotation of the turret upon depletionof a roll of tissue mounted thereabout; (e) the dispensing position of aloaded spindle being further characterized in that two spindles are inthe biasing sector of the dispenser and two spindles are in thedispensing sector of the dispenser and a line between the loaded spindlein the dispensing position and an opposed spindle in the biasing sectordefines an angle, α, of from about 10° to about 30° with respect to avertical line through the center of rotation of the turret; and whereinfurther the turret and stop means are configured such that when thedispenser is fully loaded with a plurality of like tissue rolls,depletion of a roll in the elevated dispensing position distributes theweight of tissue in the dispenser so as to bias the turret in adispensing direction.
 23. The tissue roll dispenser according to claim22, wherein the angle, α, is from about 15° to about 25°.
 24. The tissueroll dispenser according to claim 22, wherein the angle, α, is about18°.
 25. A method of dispensing tissue comprising: (a) disposing aplurality of tissue rolls in a dispenser comprising: (i) a housing; (ii)a supply turret with a plurality of spindles for mounting a plurality oftissue rolls for dispensing; (iii) means for rotatably mounting thesupply turret in the housing about a center of rotation such that avertical line through the center of rotation of the turret defines abiasing sector of the dispenser and the spindles rotate between upperand lower positions, the dispenser also having a dispensing sectoradjacent the biasing sector; (iv) stop means adapted for securing aloaded spindle in an elevated dispensing position in the dispensingsector of the tissue dispenser, the dispensing position being elevatedwith respect to a lower limit of travel of the spindle upon rotation ofthe turret; wherein the stop means are responsive to depletion of theloaded spindle so as to allow rotation of the turret upon depletion of aroll of tissue mounted thereabout; and wherein further the turret andstop means are configured such that when a loaded spindle is secured inthe elevated dispensing position: (iv) at least two spindles are in thebiasing sector of the dispenser and (v) the number of spindles in thebiasing sector is equal to or greater than the number of other spindlesof the dispenser, such that when the dispenser is fully loaded with aplurality of like tissue rolls, depletion of a roll in the elevateddispensing position distributes the weight of tissue in the dispenser soas to bias the turret in a dispensing direction; and (b) withdrawingtissue from the dispenser.
 26. In a tissue roll dispenser of the classhaving a housing with a front cover and a rotatably mounted supplyturret for dispensing tissue from a plurality of rolls mounted on aplurality of spindles, which rolls are sequentially presented to adispensing position, the improvement comprising a front cover withrelatively transparent area adapted and positioned for simultaneouslyviewing roll inventory on at least two spindles of the dispenser. 27.The improvement according to claim 26, wherein the relativelytransparent area of the front cover includes a plurality of discreterelatively transparent areas.
 28. The improvement according to claim 26,wherein the relatively transparent area of the front cover is adaptedand positioned to facilitate simultaneous viewing of roll inventory onall of the spindles of the dispenser disposed in a position other thanthe dispensing position.
 29. The improvement according to claim 26,wherein a relatively transparent area of the front cover is ring-shaped,wherein the ring-shaped area is sized and positioned to facilitatesimultaneous viewing of roll inventory on at least two spindles of thedispenser.
 30. The improvement according to claim 29, wherein thering-shaped area is sized and positioned to facilitate simultaneousviewing of roll inventory on all of the spindles of the dispenserdisposed in a position other than the dispensing position.
 31. Theimprovement according to claim 26, wherein the front cover has aunitary, injection-molded structure.
 32. The improvement according toclaim 31, wherein the relatively transparent areas have a relativelysmooth microstructure and the front cover includes less transparent areahaving a textured microstructure.
 33. The improvement according to claim31, wherein the front cover comprises an acrylic molding composition.34. The improvement according to claim 31, wherein the front covercomprises a polycarbonate molding composition.